Minnesota Twins’ Justin Morneau (33) is greeted at home by Ryan Doumit on his home run against the Seattle Mariners in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 27, 2013, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SEATTLE — A day after cracking his first home run in nearly three weeks, Justin Morneau returned to his July struggles Sunday in what could be his penultimate game with the only organization he has known.

Serving for the second time in five days as the Twins’ designated hitter, a role he typically resists, Morneau went hitless in four at-bats in a 6-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners. He struck out twice and flied out weakly the other two times at Safeco Field.

That left him 3 for 18 with six strikeouts in a four-game weekend series that drew scouts from at least eight teams, including the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays.

Of those, the Orioles and Pirates are believed to have the most legitimate interest in Morneau, although even that is relative under the circumstances.

“The Twins aren’t dumb,” said a talent evaluator from a contending team. “He’s asked for an extension, and they haven’t done that. If they thought he was going to be the player he once was, they wouldn’t be talking about him. They would have already extended him.”

Then again, the Twins might prefer to spend their money on other priorities, such as starting pitching.

The Orioles badly need an upgrade at DH and would like someone who could give first baseman Chris Davis, leading the majors with 37 home runs, an occasional break. However, they have already swung a pair of deals for pitching help (Scott Feldman and Francisco Rodriguez) and are considered wary of dealing away more prospects.

The Pirates, currently using a platoon of ex-Twin Garrett Jones and Gaby Sanchez at first, would have the option of moving Jones to right field in place of slumping Travis Snider. Pittsburgh, trying to end a 21-year playoff drought, also has a deep farm system filled with power arms to spare.

By Wednesday’s 3 p.m. CDT deadline, roughly $4.6 million will remain on Morneau’s $14 million contract for 2013. The Twins would have to cover a significant chunk of that amount, if not all of it, in order to bring back more than a mid-level prospect.

Tampa Bay, which had been monitoring Morneau for weeks, appears an unlikely landing spot. Luke Scott, a 35-year-old journeyman DH, had a combined on-base/slugging percentage that was 115 points higher than Morneau’s (.720) entering Sunday.

Since hitting two homers against the Yankees on the Fourth of July — Morneau’s only multihomer game of the season — he had fallen into another downturn. Entering Monday’s off day, Morneau was 16 for 89 (.180) in July with 20 strikeouts and just five runs batted in.

All but one of his RBIs came on his four solo homers; the other came on an infield single at Yankee Stadium on July 14.

“He’s not an everyday player anymore,” said a major league scout from an American League contender. “He’s a shell of his former self.”

Others could point to Morneau’s return to health as a positive; he has missed just six games this season while leading the team with 53 runs batted in and ranking second with 25 doubles.

Morneau made a diving stop to turn a 3-6-3 double play in the 11th inning Friday, but even his defense has come under question this season.

“The mobility and the agility are not there,” the AL scout said. “The ball gets on top of him much faster now.”

Placing proper value on a 32-year-old former AL most valuable player with declining offensive skills isn’t easy.

The only way the Twins could receive a compensatory draft pick for losing Morneau in free agency would be if they made a qualifying offer of $13.8 million. He would almost certainly accept that offer, which would seem well beyond what he could rate on the open market.

“It would have to be a low base with incentives based on playing time,” the AL scout said.

Yankees DH Travis Hafner ($2 million base with another $4 million through incentives) and Ray first baseman James Loney ($2 million with $1 million via incentives) have been mentioned as likely starting points.

Josh Willingham’s three-year, $21 million deal was mentioned Sunday as a fair comparable by another club monitoring Morneau.

As a two-month rental, however, Morneau could still tempt a handful of contenders, and that list could grow if the Twins opt to take him into August and attempt to work out a waiver deal. The looming specter of additional Biogenesis suspensions could add to Morneau’s value at that point as well.

“Is he what he once was? No,” the first talent evaluator said. “Will he ever get back there? Who knows? But there’s a lot that goes into a guy who helps you win over those last two months. Part of what he brings to the table is the quality of his character. He’s absolutely a guy that can help a team win.”

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